Kassi (empress)

Principal wife and paternal cousin of Suleyman, Kassi ruled jointly with her husband, as was traditional.

Kassi (fl. 1341) was an empress of Mali.

She was extremely popular with the royal court, which counted many of her relations among its members. But she soon fell out of favor with her husband, who preferred a commoner named Bendjou. Eventually he divorced her to marry the latter. The noble ladies of the court took Kassi's side, continuing to recognize her legitimacy and refusing to honor the new empress. Such insubordination – they threw earth on their heads to honor Kassi while throwing earth on their hands to insult Bendjou – soon angered Suleyman and his new wife, to the point that Kassi was forced to seek sanctuary in the mosque.

Civil war soon erupted, as she encouraged the nobility, including her relations, to revolt. The war was a struggle between two ideological factions; one group supported Suleyman, while the other supported not only Kassi but sons of the former ruler, Maghan. Suleyman and his chiefs eventually defeated Kassi and her cousins, discrediting her by showing that she and her cousin, Djathal, who had been banished for treason, were in league together.

Kassi was the mother of Kassa, who succeeded Suleyman briefly before being replaced by his cousin Mari Diata II.[1][2]

References
  1. Guida Myrl Jackson-Laufer (1999). Women Rulers Throughout the Ages: An Illustrated Guide. ABC-CLIO. pp. 460–. ISBN 978-1-57607-091-8.
  2. Kathleen E. Sheldon (2005). Historical Dictionary of Women in Sub-Saharan Africa. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-5331-7.
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